The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1887-12-29
AS TO FLOWING WELLS.
The Success Attained in and Neal
Lehi.


| Mr.. John Woodhouse, of Lehi, who
has always taken great interest in the
subject of flowing wells, and who is,
perhaps, as good an authority as can be
found, writes TIE HERALD as follows:
Il have seen your mention of flowing
wells, and an intimation that more on
the subject would be acceptable. be-
gin by informing you that the first
flowing we'll ever struck in Utah to my
knowledge was upon the farm of Joseph
Roberts, in Lehi FIELD, about eleven
years ago. 1t was driven by Mr.
Thompson, of your city,. and yielded
about the, gallons per minute. The
next was obtained by Charles Grey. by
| the boring process, on the farm OF
Peter Peterson. IN tue same field. This
was such strong flow that great diff
Guilty was encountered in controlling it.
Having conceived the idea that water
could be obtained by boring, and with
| q view of aiding our citizens to obtain
this necessary article, the City Council
| imported horse power boring eppar-
atuS, at cost Of over $500. No wells
! were obtained b. it in the city or upper
part OF The field, on account of not be-
ing able to pierce gravel, cobbIe rock,
or hard pan; but in the lower part of
our field, Israel Evans used the ma
chime, and bored about twelve wells,
| obtaining good flows, at about fifty feet
| each one.
About three years ago, James Har-
wood, of Leni, was the first to obtain
water in this city from a driven well.
| His son, James HARDWOOD, the artist,
81 d sOn-in-law, Israel Evans, Jr., drove
it. They used sledge hammer aud
muscle for the driving power. The pipe
used was the pointed pipe, with holes
pierced Tor about four feet in the lower
| end or 1t. They obtained a flow of
| about four gallons per minute from q
depth of about 100 feet. The next at
| tempts were failures, and we often hear
specuIa tons as to what might have
been the result if Mr.. HarWood had
failed. Muscle power was soon super
! coded by derrick and Windlass, wound
up by hand like pile river. That in
| turn gave way to horse power. The
first one, homemade, with a planet
wheel OF a thresber power. Several
powers were soon made from worn-out
respers and mowers, and soon the
pump and drill were attached to the
mower, thus still iessenIng the amount
of muscle needed. Ths homemade
powers SooE broke down, aud now it is
common 10 purchase the horse power
feed mill. hiCl seems to answer the
purpose first rate. Inthe meantime, il
was found that the pointed pipe would
not pierce our sccbble rock, hard pan.
ETC., and some failures were made by
the big pipes bending, causing large
amount Of labor TO De lost. Then the
idea OF the open ended pipe was
evolved. The end shod with steel
hCup or band, and sharpened to a thin
edge, the advantage being that m OBJ
structiOa could be drilled through, and
thus by drilling and water pressure
through force pump, they could work
ahead OF the pipe, and thus avoid bend
iGE Il; and the work, although slower.
was more sure; so that now whsnSVeF 4
well IS commenced they expect 10 sue
coed. As far ss | can learn, all thtse
problems have been worked cut at
home. Our deepest wells are about 200
feet deep. The quality of water OBJ
tained is goQdi entirely soft, with no
foreign taste, very agreeable temuef..-
ture, and very desirable for stock; 20
much so, that stock that have uaed it
but little, will suffer much before they
will drink any other. Some wells have
been driven TO supply carp ponds. the
lower part of Lahi field, furnishing good
opportunity for this industry. suitable
land being cheap, and well complete
can be go. for about IS.
We now have here in Lehi, ten COM
panies of generally three men each,
who sink wells. Nine with horse
powers, pumps, and drill, attached, and
one steam power, pump. and drill at
tar he'd.
All who have not yet obtained drive
wells. expect to have them as soon as
possible, realizing that our old surface
wells are not what they used TO be; and
at best, they never were very good.
And DOW the queries that are COM
mencing TO agitate the thoughtful:
First From whence comes the water,
or where is it's so1Ice2
Seconds the supply ineXhaustl0le.
or is there limit to it2
Tn rd-H limit, where is the limit
or Is there any reason for economy in its
use? Is there any necessity for shutting
the water Off when not ia actual use, so
as to defer the doy of scarcity?
If some of your learned ones can aid
Us in settling the foregoing. and any
other queries that iuRv arise, no doubt |
they will eosfey faVors on posterity. AS
far as We Can tel, thrTe has Up ~ date |
been no dimiuGtion III flow. tina can |
be attributed 80 failure III supply. Al
few Of our small wells. Of ieebler force, |
have failed q little, bat re believe the |
failure TO be due more to filling Of |
pipes. etc, than 10 dimiuusion of |
supply.